Slane pile up: Cllrs take first step to ban HGVs

CAMPAIGNERS for measures to increase road safety in Slane and mothers caught up in the chaos of the recent nine-vehicle pile-up in the centre of the village are going to be invited to put their concerns to the Oireachtas Committee for Transport as local councillors took the first steps this week towards banning heavy goods vehicles from travelling on the N2 through the village. The accident involving two trucks and seven cars has once again put the issue of safety in the village and at Slane Bridge firmly back at the top of the agenda. While a bypass is seen as the long-term solution to the problem, this is still at least several years away and as an interim measure, councillors and local residents want to see heavy trucks banned from the route. Minister Noel Dempsey said that the Department of Transport and National Roads Authority would actively facilitate a HGV ban in the village. Fine Gael Deputy Shane McEntee, who is arranging a meeting between villagers and the Oireachtas Transport Committee, gave a cautious welcome to the proposed HGV ban but stressed that there should be continued pressure on the Government and the Department to ensure that the proposed bypass of Slane was not shelved or delayed any longer. Standing orders were suspended at Monday"s council meeting to discuss the issue and a motion put forward by Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher calling for trucks travelling north-south through the village to be banned received the unanimous support of her fellow councillors. Cllr Dillon Gallagher said the matter had been raised in the Dail by Deputy Shane McEntee and that Minister Noel Dempsey had announced on Friday that he or the NRA had no problem with a HGV ban in the village. She said that 'over the past 50-odd years, there had been many accidents on Slane Bridge and south of the Square and that the long hill of one and a half kilometres tests the stopping capacity of any truck'. 'There have been 22 deaths and hundreds have been injured. Just recently a HGV ran into the back of a delivery truck and there was a concertina effect. It is a miracle nobody was injured or killed'. Cllr Dillon Gallagher said she had spoken to some of the women who survived the crash and they had just delivered their children to school 20 minutes earlier and the walking bus of children had also passed by. 'This was the first potentially catastrophic accident north of the Square. The people of Slane say they have had enough.' Cllr Tom Kelly supported the motion but said that they had tried before to ban HGVs but the NRA would not support them and he hoped this had changed. He added that the situation would get a lot worse in Slane when the M3 opens because of the tolls. Cllr Jimmy Cudden said he has been on the council for 30 years and that accidents would happen; they would protest and there would be promises and that even though they have had a minister, junior ministers and even a Taoiseach in Meath, they had still failed to get the bypass. Regarding the HGV ban, Cllr Cudden asked where are the trucks going to go if they can"t go through Slane and said that it was not as simple as Minister Dempsey saying it. 'I hope we have the power and it would be great but I"m not sure,' he said. Cllr Pat Boshell also supported the motion and said Minister Dempsey is fully aware of what needs to be done. Cllr Eoin Holmes said there is a statutory instrument that was used by another local authority to ban five-axle trucks from Dublin city centre and forces them to use the Port Tunnel. He asked if this instrument could be applied in Slane and if they could erect a sign to this effect. 'The bypass is unquestionably the answer to the problem but even if we started digging tomorrow, it is still a few years away. It is our duty to do whatever we can and do something now.' However, responding to the motion, Director of Infrastructure Eugene Cummins said that introducing a HGV ban was not 'a simple matter'. Mr Cummins said their attention and focus had been on progressing the bypass of Slane but said there are other issues that need to be addressed. He said the council is aware of the statutory instrument that Cllr Holmes referred to and that it is within the remit of Meath County Council and was used in Enfield but said it was not a simple matter in Slane. He said that preventing HGVs going into Slane would have serious implications for other towns and residents in the area. Mr Cummins said that senior officials had been in contact with the NRA about what other interim measures are possible in Slane and that he would report back to councillors on or before the May meeting. He said it is not as simple as erecting a sign and that there would have to be consultation and there would have to be assessments carried out. 'There is no quick fix solution but there is a quick willingness to engage with the NRA to come up with something workable. If it is done too quickly it will fail. I will present back the findings,' said Mr Cummins. Cllr John Farrelly said the councillors wanted the motion passed and said it would give more power to Mr Cummins when he goes to the NRA. The motion to ban HGVs travelling north-south through the village was put to the floor and unanimously passed.